Increasingly strict exhaust gas regulations and the need to reduce the level of fuel consumption are setting high requirements in terms of the management and control systems for the operating characteristics of internal combustion engines or influencing the combustion characteristics in such engines.
A common method of improving the operating characteristics of or the combustion characteristics in internal combustion piston engines in the part-load range involves causing the fresh charge, in the part-load range, to flow into the combustion chamber in a directed manner in such a way that a swirl flow (rotational flow about the axis of the piston movement) and/or a tumble flow (rotational flow about an axis which is perpendicular to the direction of the piston movement) is formed in the combustion chamber. That is achieved by the incorporation of screening means in the inlet duct, by rendering inoperative an inlet valve when there are a plurality of inlet valves in each cylinder, and so forth. Such measures are intended to achieve an increased charge movement which improves the mixture formation and thus permits better combustion.